Whistler Mountain Bike Park to open early

May 2 set as opening date

Photo by Justa JeskovaWhistler Mountain Bike Park is set to open two weeks early for 2015. Opening day has been set for May 2.

Whistler Mountain Bike Park is opening early.

Whistler Blackcomb announced in a release early Monday morning (April 20) the park is set to open May 2, two weeks ahead of what was originally planned.

Whistler Blackcomb VP of business development Rob McSkimming said the warm weather and lack of snow in the valley allowed crews to access the park earlier than in previous years.

"So many people are out riding and with the weather that we've had in the valley, it's great to give everyone an opportunity to get up there a couple weeks sooner," McSkimming said.

There are a handful of improvements planned in advance of the park's opening.

"We'll have pretty much a reshaped, redesigned Crank It Up ready to go for May 2. We've had a crew from Joyride bike parks in there working on that since the beginning of April," he said. "That'll be a new and improved experience on one of our key trails. Right now, our crews are working on doing all the spring maintenance. We're giving A Line a full buff-up for the beginning of the season."

Passes for the park are now on sale and include more options for users. The park is now offering five- and 10-day passes, as well as Top of the World passes, which include one Top of the World ride per day (one Village Gondola ride and one Peak Chair ride). Those are offered in addition to the unlimited season passes and the twilight passes.

"We were interested in looking at some options there that would attract other riders into the park," McSkimming said. "The Top of the World pass is one of those where hopefully people look at that and go 'Gee, I can get up there and I can ride it everyday and get up into the alpine'. It's an inexpensive way of doing that at the end of the day."

McSkimming also noted the five- and 10-day passes can be reloaded at a reduced rate.

The park has also extended its Saturday evening hours until 8 p.m. from May 16 until June 13, when the extended hours will be offered daily.